Welcome! Are you interested in tortoises? If so, we invite you to join our community! Our community is the #1 place for tortoise keepers to talk online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your tortoise and enclosure, and discuss any tortoise topic with other tortoise keepers. Get started today!

My Russian Tortoise hasn't eaten in a few days. He doesn't usually have this problem, though he is a very pickey eater. Many times if there is romaine mixed in his meal he only eats that. Lately I've been trying lots of different lettuces and taking him outside more often since its getting warmer. I've been trying to feed him spring mix for the past couple of days and he's not eating. Please help.

What usually springs to mind when a tortoise won't eat is that it isn't warm enough. Check your habitat. Lay a thermometer on the floor in different spots all over the enclosure. It should be around 70-75 on one end and around 85-90 on the other end, with it getting as hot as 115 or so directly under the light.

If you haven't already done so, take a fecal sample to a tort vet to test for parasites. Even better, take the tort in for a health exam (symptoms or not I think its a great idea). If you post more about your overall care (enclosure, temps, humidity, diet) with pictures of the enclosure it will be very helpful. Is the tortoise active--walking around and basking? Does it walk over to the food, sniff, and walk away? I would place the tort in a basking area in line of sight of the food a couple times a day and offer a variety of foods to entice the tort. Radicchio in the spring mix is red and torts usually love it.

My Russian Tortoise hasn't eaten in a few days. He doesn't usually have this problem, though he is a very pickey eater. Many times if there is romaine mixed in his meal he only eats that. Lately I've been trying lots of different lettuces and taking him outside more often since its getting warmer. I've been trying to feed him spring mix for the past couple of days and he's not eating. Please help.

Click to expand...

I have learned that Russian Tortoises are "programmed" to eat allot in a short period of time. In the wild they are active only a few months of the year. When they come out of hibernation they feed voraciously in preparation for aestivation (some refer to this as summer hibernation though its not really hibernation, but more like a long siesta).

Useful Searches

About Us

Tortoise Forum is a community of pet tortoise enthusiasts. We aim to provide a free resource to tortoise keepers around the world. On these pages you will find discussions on any and all topics relating to pet tortoises (and even turtles)! Thank you for visiting our site and joining our community.